The cost of fertilizer exploded in 2021, and farmers across the country are going to be hit even harder in 2022, according to a new study by Texas A&M University’s Agricultural and Food Policy Center.

 “As the nation struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of supply chain disruptions continue to wreak havoc on agricultural input markets, both in terms of availability and cost of inputs,” the researchers wrote in the study that evaluated the potential impact on various types and sizes of farms. Fertilizer costs will be as much as 80% higher than last year for this year’s planting season, the study said.

The study is based on data for 64 representative farms that A&M economists regularly use to evaluate the impact of policy and economic changes. The study found that the average feed grain operation would pay $128,000 more on fertilizer in 2022, an increase of $39.55 per acre.

“Given the farm safety net is not designed to address rapidly rising costs of production, there are growing concerns in the countryside about the need for additional assistance,” the researchers said. “Recent fertilizer price increases across all three primary nutrients have caused significant concern among producers. For the 2022 crop, producers are experiencing sticker shock as well as product shortages.”

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